


Out of the Wild

by jaerie



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alpha Harry, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Implied Alpha Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Knotting, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Omega Louis, Shapeshifting, Unashamed Nudity, Unexpected Heat, Werewolves, Werewolves Turn Into Actual Wolves, Wolf Pack, but only hypothetical, its just an implied posibility, no one has actually been raped
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-06
Updated: 2017-09-06
Packaged: 2018-12-24 13:37:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12013896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaerie/pseuds/jaerie
Summary: Louis has spent most of his life as a wolf in the wild, Harry has spent most of his life as a human in the city. Their worlds collide during the audition process for the hottest new singing competition. What happens next should have expected.





	Out of the Wild

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was written as part of an ongoing challenge. We each select random numbers and are given a specific emotion from the book 1000 Feelings For Which There Are No Names. To read the other fics written in this challenge, [click here](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/ShortFic_Challenge_For_Which_There_Is_No_Name/works), or you can find the masterpost on tumblr [here](http://lululawrence.tumblr.com/post/159679804243/1000-feelings-for-which-there-are-no-names-prompt).
> 
> Prompt #286: The incredulousness that they still don't get it.
> 
>  
> 
> I could write in this verse forever but had to cut myself off :)
> 
>  
> 
> ( I currently am not allowing any translations of any of my fics )

* * *

 

 

****

Harry arrived to an arena floor filled with hundreds of people and that scene, though overwhelming, had been exactly what he had been expecting.  What he hadn’t been expecting was to pick up on the faint scent of wolf curling through the thick humid air even with the large space and high ceiling.  He tilted his head and tried to follow even the general direction it was coming from but it seemed just too far out of reach, too faint in the chaotic open air.  It was an active scent though, he could at least tell that.  Someone of his kind was here.  

It had already been a long road to make it to where he found himself.  It had taken weeks to perfect his audition tape and fill out the paperwork and then months of preliminary auditions with the producers before he had even been allowed to perform for the judges.  

“Sing For Your Supper” had been the highest ranking show on Sunday nights the previous year and this year’s season was already highly anticipated.  Unlike other televised talent competitions, Sing For Your Supper called for a wider range of talents and required a more dedicated commitment.  Contestants competed against each other not just for one spot of glory but instead for claim of a handful of roles that would star in the cast of a musical opening in London’s West End.  Last year’s musical was still running and, after attending it with his sister during the opening week, he had caught the bug.  He loved performing, had a strong voice and had confidence that he could fake his way through the acting aspects just as easily as any professional.  He hoped anyway.  He had at least made it this far which he hoped was a good sign.  

By midmorning the mass of people had already dwindled down to around one hundred which still seemed like a lot when he imagined himself as one one hundredth of the group.  Harry had never experienced such stress but somehow he was still standing, not yet given the heartbreaking send off he was anticipating with every elimination round they were forced to go through during their first day.  

The wolf was still here as well, swirls of scent growing stronger as the number of contestants diminished, filling his nostrils at random times when he was least expecting it.  It was hard to keep himself from being distracted by it and had to consciously push it aside every time his mind wandered.  It was unusual to run into a wolf when he was out in his normal life and he couldn’t keep himself from wondering if it was someone he knew.

The wolf was almost definitely on the small stage with him as he lined up for the next elimination, close and warm and active in the way his own family’s were when they were in the house together.  The difference was that he was used to their scents, never taking notice of the familiar the way he did a stranger.  He chose to concentrate on that instead of the stomach churning anxiety that threatened to take over if he gave it even the slightest wiggle room to do so.  If he didn’t make it through, searching the wolf out would be his next objective, something to keep himself from being crushed, from being devastated as he most certainly would be.  

A few people down, he thought, and male though it seemed sweeter than any male he’d ever scented before, that he could remember anyway.  It was pleasant and not at all territorial or intimidating like some that he had met over the years.  He smiled to himself at meeting a new, or perhaps reacquainted, friend.  Maybe if they were eliminated together he would have an excuse to approach them.  

He breathed a sigh of heavy relief when his name wasn’t called, shuffling off the stage with the rest of the group to be shuffled off to the next challenge.  Other bodies knocked into him in the process and suddenly the scent was on top of him, one of the people directly around him, invading his space and overpowering the unappetizing smell of the humans.  He twisted his gaze to the young men surrounding him and then began scattering once they were off the stairs.  His eyes followed one particular body that he was sure the scent belonged to, it drifted off with him in a way that was nearly visible, at least to his nose.  He was short and solid, curvy in the right places and head held high though he seemed a little unsure about what he was supposed to be doing, unsure of his surroundings.  His shoulders were squared yet his fists were clenched tightly at his sides. 

“Styles!  Rehearsal B!” he heard shouted just as he was about to approach the wolf who appeared to be about his age.  He sighed at the loss but let himself be shuffled away, the boy disappearing in the other direction.  All his hard work would be pointless if he let himself get distracted now and he couldn’t do that.  He had thirsted over this opportunity for so long, he’d never forgive himself for throwing it away over his curiosity.  

  
  


Towards the end of the day, the remaining auditioners were given instructions to collect their bags and meet back on the stage to receive their hotel rooming assignments for the night, the rejected auditionees sadly pulling their suitcases with defeat as they began to make their way back home.  He couldn’t help the proud smile that crossed his face though he at least tried to contain it.  It was a big achievement for him to even make it this far and if more had to go home for him to make it further, he couldn’t make himself feel too badly about it.  

He had just turned the corner, rolling his small carry on suitcase behind him when the hair on the back of his neck suddenly stood on end.  

It all happened so fast that he still wasn’t sure how he had been able to process what was happening and act so quickly but somehow, luckily, he had.  

He watched as one of the other contestants who hadn’t been paying attention to where he was going knock into the curvy wolf, his Adidas duffle tumbling off his shoulder to the floor with the impact of their bodies.  They both reached down to retrieve the bag and suddenly Harry’s feet were carrying him swiftly towards them.  

The apology had barely been spoken when the wolf simultaneously snatched his duffle back and spun around with the most hackle raising growl Harry had ever heard, the narrowed eyes shifting to black like a horror scene playing out in front of him.  The other boy jumped back in alarm and stared with wide terror filled eyes while the wolf began to crouch.  It was out of place and unnatural even to Harry in this setting, the situation escalating quickly.  

Harry forced himself to laugh loudly and rushed up to them, swatting the wolf on the shoulder in what he hoped appeared like a playful way yet hard enough to snap him out of the instinctual reaction that was happening. 

“Sorry about that mate!” Harry struggled to sound light, “He gets a bit testy when he’s tired and crabby!”  He could hear how weak and nervous he sounded.  So much for the acting part then.

His grip tightened on the warm shoulder of the wolf, steering him away from the group to a more deserted place along the cinderblock wall of the area hopefully before the humans were able to over analyze their behaviour.  Even as the other was struggling to shrug him off he held on tight, fingertips turning white with the grip.  

“What are you doing?? You can’t do that here!” he hissed and he knew his voice sounded borderline hysterical but his fear was real.  This wolf had been seconds away from shifting in front of a room literally full of humans, would have probably launched himself at the group if he hadn’t been stopped.  The implications of that were terrifying to him, had been instilled in him since he had been born.  Never lose control in the human world.  Never let nature drive your actions.

“Get your fucking hands off me,” the wolf pushed him away, breathing heavily and acting twitchy like a cornered animal.  He guessed that’s probably how he felt.  “Who the fuck do you think you are??” 

“I’m Harry, and you are?” It took everything he had in him to not get defensive and thrust his hand out between them to shake expectantly, holding his ground against the undisciplined wolf.  He didn’t look familiar, Harry was sure.  Not even a hint of familiarity from his years of JW camp where he had grown up with all the wolves his age in the U.K. or from any family gatherings.  

The wolf just looked at his hand and then back up to his face, adjusting his duffel on his shoulder uncomfortably with a faux stance of dominance that Harry could see right through, could  _ feel _ right through.  He was not comfortable here and Harry needed to use that to his advantage.    

Harry huffed and rolled his eyes, raising his hand and turning his wrist up towards him in an act that made him feel childish, a gesture he hadn’t made since the silly games at camp they were made to play when they were all just beginning to learn how to scent.  

“Stop with the act, you know what I am,” he rolled his eyes again but watched the wolf subtly flare his nostrils to identify him.  “You can’t do that kind of shit here,” he said with annoyance, pulling his hand back to cross his arms over his chest.

“Okay mum,” the wolf said in a tiff and pushed past him, knocking him in the shoulder though there was plenty of space for him to have cleared without contact.  It was a clear and deliberate move and it made Harry’s irritation bloom.  

Fine, fuck him, Harry thought as he huffed his way to the stage for room placement.  “Turn into a wolf in front of all these people, see if I fucking care,” he muttered but hoped the wolf heard him, he probably did.  What a brat.  

There wasn’t enough room on the stage for everyone still left in the competition and, arriving later than most of the others after his little run-in, Harry was left standing on the floor near where the judges platform was located.  He could see the wolf standing on the stairs to the stage, hand gripping the railing and eyes glued to where Harry was in the crowd.  It was easy to see how his eyes were narrowed in his direction, his nose and upper lip twitching in a barely contained snarl.  It was probably imperceptible to all the humans standing around them but if he started to bare his teeth, they would certainly start to take notice and he seemed moments away from that.  It wasn’t normal human behaviour and he was baffled by this wolf’s lack of constraint.  Harry had never witnessed this in a public setting and the hairs on the back of his neck had risen with anxiety, his muscles flexing by instinct that would have his ears flattened to his head if he was in his wolf form right now.  

This wolf was going against every self preservation lesson he had been taught and feared he would find himself wrapped up in the aftermath if this rogue chose to ruin everything, reveal their secrets.  

“Styles,” his name snapped his attention to the producer with the microphone on the stage.  He made his way up and took the packet the assistant handed down to him.  His name was written along the top in black sharpie along with a second name just underneath it, Louis Tomlinson.  As they had been told briefly before they began handing out the packets, they would all be assigned a roommate for this stage of the competition and that they were alphabetical for simplicity.  They weren’t exactly in the position to argue that at this point either.  It was a privilege to advance this far in the competition and throwing a fit about a room assignment would most surely seal anyone’s fate.  

Inside was his room key along with more general information about meal times and the schedule for tomorrow.  His name was towards the end of the alphabet and realized that as he went through the contents of his packet, the gathering had shrunk significantly in size, all headed out to the shuttles that would transport them to the hotels.  He hurried outside after them, not wanting to be left behind.  

The sooner he arrived at the hotel, the sooner he could calm himself down as well.  Of course he knew there was no real reason for his anxiety.  If this kid did pop into a territorial wolf, it wasn’t as if a spotlight would be pointed straight at him when he did.  Harry had been living as a human for nearly his entire life, went to a human school, worked a human weekend job, had mostly human friends.  Logically there wasn’t a reason he should be worried about himself.  He had no problem fitting in.  

But he also felt a social responsibility to keep their kind from being exposed.  They hadn’t been able to keep their existence quiet for centuries by walking away from irrational wolves and Harry definitely did not want to go down in history as the one who didn’t have the balls to stop it, to do something about it.  

 

Harry was the first to arrive to the hotel room, flicking on the light and taking a quick glance around the basic interior before claiming the bed nearest the window for himself.  Even with the hum of the heating unit, the room still seemed too quiet after the constant buzz and noise from the day.  It almost felt too calm for him to truly relax which seemed a little ironic.  The zipper of his suitcase echoed against the walls as he opened it, his shoes making a loud thud as he kicked them onto the carpeted floor.  

The silence was also the reason why a few moments later, he heard the faint clicking of plastic on plastic followed by the loud turn of the door handle and a thump to follow.  He had been expecting his roommate so he wasn’t too alarmed but when the door didn’t open and the sequence of sounds happened again and again, he finally looked towards the door.  

It happened again and this time he heard a mumbled curse from the other side.  He got up and walked over, pulling it open to investigate the situation. 

A loud yelp was amplified through by the corridor and the body on the other side scrambled to crouch against the opposite wall, growling with teeth bared.  Harry stared down at the wolf holding himself in a defensive yet uncertain position, his hand still holding the door handle in surprise.  

“Get in here,” he hissed angrily, opening the door wider and motioning for him to come in, “Before someone sees you like that.  What’s wrong with you??” 

Louis, or at least he assumed it was Louis if he was going by his roommate assignment, lowered his head slightly in submission, rising to stand and enter the room.

“What the fuck is your problem!” Harry nearly yelled but instead kept his volume down to a hushed roar, anger radiating off him in waves.  “What if that hadn’t been me!  You can’t just go around reacting like that!  Were you raised in the fucking wild??”

Louis cowered and backed up against the wall, feet pawing at the carpet nervously.  At least he knew his place in this confrontation, shoulders hunching and avoiding eye contact.  It honestly surprised him a little that he had submitted so quickly, used to his friends and even his sister challenging him, even if just a little, in arguments.  Harry he knew he was right though and raised himself to his full height, squaring his shoulders in dominance above him. 

“You might as well have just paraded around in your fur!  That’s how obvious you’re being!” Incredulous at the repeated events of the evening, he couldn’t stop himself from chewing this wolf out who was acting more like a pup than anything.  “Even if I hadn’t smelled you all I would have had to do was open my eyes and look at your behaviour!” 

Louis slid to the floor and emitted a high pitched whimpering whine, turning his head to the side.  That made Harry pause.  He had never seen a wolf in human form act the way that Louis was.  Sure in the privacy of his own home or during his summers at camp they would playfully growl at each other or let other mannerisms out while in human form when solely around other wolves but never to this extent, never in such significant actions.  It was alarming to witness and made him pause.

“Are you okay?” Harry asked after a few moments of observation, beginning to worry that maybe something had happen to make him act so instinctual while standing on two legs instead of four.  Louis let out another pitifully helpless whine and Harry let his weight drop to sit on the edge of his bed.  The worn out mattress made him bounce.  “Do you need me to call someone?” he asked in genuine concern. 

“No!  Please don’t!” Louis finally spoke, shaking his head vigorously and finally looked up, eyes wild with fear.  “Please don’t, no one knows I’m here.”  His voice was soft and unsure, trembling and making Harry even more confused.  He was acting like a beaten animal.

“What do you mean no one knows?” Harry asked, “What if you get through?  Didn’t you tell your family where you’d be for the next few months?”  

Louis shook his head and looked down once again to where his fingers were toying with the strap on his duffel, his fringe hiding his eyes.  

“They think I’m at my nan’s,” he replied so quietly that human hearing wouldn’t have picked it up.  But Harry heard him clearly. 

“How old are you?  You know you have to be over 18 to be here,” worried that he had a teenage runaway as a roommate.  He was only 19 himself and didn’t want to be put in the position to tattle on another contestant to the producers.  That would be awkward in more than one way and he didn’t want to have the reputation of a narc from the beginning. 

“I’m over 18,” Louis looked up again, dark eyes having faded to a lighter colour with the shift in the room, enough to seem normal again.  

“So why would you have to lie about where you are?” None of this was making any sense to him, his story wasn’t adding up.  

“The pack wouldn’t approve, alpha wouldn’t approve,” he hugged his arms around himself and tented his legs to pull them closer to his chest.  He looked so small huddled on the floor and Harry was at a loss for words.  Harry had rarely called his family a pack and the context of that terminology used in that way seemed straight out of one of his old history of social construct of wolves textbooks they learned from at camp.  In his life the only use of the term pack came when referring to extended family during gatherings or groups of kids who formed a clique during camp.  

“What do you mean?” he asked slowly when his brain really couldn’t wrap around the implications of that, brows furrowed in confusion.  

“They don’t really get it.  They don’t get why I’m so interested in the human world or why I would want anything to do with it,” he replied with a small shrug. 

“That seems a little hypocritical to think like that while living in the human world…” he said slowly, cocking his head to the side.  

“We don’t.  Live in the human world, I mean.” 

“Wait… Are you a rogue??” Harry asked as realization set in, as all of his behaviours began to come together and slowly make sense.  

“What does that mean?” Louis wrinkled his nose, his tone suggesting that he was ready to be offended if he needed to be.  

“A rogue, living in the wild?” Harry had heard of wolves that had rejected modern society and chose to live as their true form but he had never actually met any.  He had assumed they had all died out or given in as humans began to settle in wider areas and larger numbers across the planet.  He thought it was widely accepted as a tall tale now that technology and modern comforts made human life so appealing.  Or in Europe anyway. North America presented more opportunities for that lifestyle though he had never seen it for himself.  

“I guess so?  I mean, yeah I guess it’s the wild compared to this.”  Louis raised a hand and motioned around the room.  “But I’ve never seen a house this small before. I don’t think I want to live here.” 

Harry let out a small laugh and shook his head, “You don’t have to live here.  This is just a hotel.  Hotels are just for short periods of time.  Like when you’re traveling away from home.”  

“Oh,” Louis looked around again like he was reevaluating his first opinion, nodding to himself.  

“How did you end up here if you don’t even know what a hotel is?” Harry couldn’t keep the amusement hidden in his voice but tried to hold back his grin.  

“My nan married a human a few years ago.  She was getting too old to shift and Dale is nice.  He knows about us and lets me shift whenever I want.  I got to spend summers at their house and they let me watch the human tv shows,” Louis shrugged one shoulder, “I just wanted to see what it would be like, you know?  See if I could make it.” 

“You wanted to see what it would be like to be a human and you thought a televised singing competition was the best way to do that?” he asked, staring at him in disbelief.  

“It looked like something I could do.  I was pretty good at singing along with everything when I watched it.  I thought maybe if I could get some of my own money then the pack couldn’t really do anything about it, alpha couldn’t do anything about it.”  

“You didn’t think to maybe, I don’t know, get a normal human job like every other teenager?” 

“Dale said I wouldn’t get in and when I did, nan said I couldn’t do it.  I thought it was my only chance and I was so mad… So they thought I went back home and the pack thinks I’m still at my nan’s but I really came here.” 

This was a mess.  Louis was over 18 so Harry really couldn’t do anything about it, or at least he said he was, but he also recognized this was a terrible terrible idea.  

“You realize this is more than just singing, right?  There are interviews and group challenges… all with humans.  With millions of humans watching on tv.  How are you going to do that when you can’t even control yourself when someone bumps into you?” 

“It can’t be that hard, I can do it,” Louis said but it lacked the confidence it needed, “I was just overwhelmed today because I’ve never seen so many humans before and they all smell so weird.” 

“That’s how this whole thing is going to be, Louis.  You  _ are _ Louis, right?” he confirmed and Louis nodded, “And if you win, you’ll have to perform to a whole audience of humans every night, work with humans every night, all of that until you finish your contract.”

“Yeah, I know that.  I can do that.” 

Harry sighed, feeling mentally exhausted by Louis’ entire story.  None of it seemed like a responsible or even plausible idea.  

“I can’t stop you but you’re going to have to learn some control or you’re going to be the first wolf in history to expose us to humans.  You realize how serious this is, right?”

“I won’t,” he shook his head quickly.  

“And if you do something stupid, I don’t know you.  I’ve never known you.  Got it?”  Louis nodded and Harry let out another long sigh.  “Okay then.  Now get off the floor, hotel carpets are filthy.”  

 

\--

 

Harry was getting annoyed.  He had just started to fall asleep once again, entering that floaty space just before slipping into a dream, finally giving in to the seduction unconsciousness.  Unfortunately he was violently pulled back out of it as Louis gave another loud irritated sigh and shuffled around on the queen bed on the other side of the night table separating them.  

“Would you stop??” Harry flopped onto his back to emphasize his point, huffing as he stared up at the textured ceiling lit only by the green glow of the alarm clock and the thin line of light sneaking in from under the door to the hallway.  

“How can you sleep like this?  How do humans sleep like this?” Louis huffed, shuffling around again.  He kicked off all the covers only to pull them back on after a few moments.  “I feel like I’m being suffocated!” 

“I don’t know!  This is how everyone sleeps.  And no I’m not turning on the heat so you don’t have to sleep with a blanket on.  Deal with it like a normal person.”  

“Where are you supposed to put your arms?  They keep going numb or get all wrapped up and I can’t get out,” he kicked around on the bed, the overused mattress squeaking and shuttering under him on the bed frame.  

“You just… I don’t know! Just find a position and stop moving!” Harry was beyond irritated.  It was already the early hours of  the morning and their wakeup call would be coming at what seemed to Harry as the ass crack of dawn.  The day had already been emotionally exhausting and the next would be just as trying.  He didn’t know how he was going to get through it if this kept up for the rest of the night.  

Louis shifted again on the bed, going still for a few blissful seconds before he began whining high in his throat.  Harry huffed and turned on his side to face Louis, his eyes easily adjusting to the darkness though it wasn’t quite as sharp as it was in his wolf form.  

“Do you not sleep in a bed?” he finally questioned.  

“No,” he replied softly after a moment, “I don’t think I’ve ever really slept as a human.  Or maybe I have and I don’t remember.” 

“Do you really live as a wolf all the time?” Harry asked curiously.  It was hard for him to fathom spending his whole life as an animal.  He loved shifting, loved the wind through his fur and the thrill of the speed as his large paws pushed him forward but he loved to come home to take a long hot shower and curl up in his fluffy bed at home with too many pillows.  He probably wouldn’t be able to sleep a wink out in the open, jolting alert at any sound he heard with something rustling in the woods.  

“‘Course,” Louis answered easily, “I mean not as much when I’m staying with my nan but… yeah.”  

“What’s it like?” he couldn’t help but ask, still trying to imagine not being constantly bothered by all the little things that drove him crazy when he was a wolf.  To not mind leaves getting stuck to his fur or being distracted by the sounds in the distance or the uncomfortable way his pelt seemed to become too thick and heavy when it got wet.  He wondered if those were normal for Louis, if he didn’t even notice them.

“It’s…” he paused, breathing through the long silence, the hum of the fan was the only other thing filling the space.  “It’s what I’ve always known I guess.  We move around a lot so sometimes I like it and sometimes I don’t.  We have a new alpha and my mum has new pups now so I don’t really like that.  Everyone’s always nipping at me and running me out of the den. Or telling me what I can and can’t do.  But I don’t think I really like being human all the time either.  I can’t sleep like this.” 

“Well figure something out.  We have to get up in about 5 hours and if you don’t stop being annoying neither of us are going to get any sleep,” Harry groaned as he checked the clock again, his eyes burning with exhaustion.  

His vision adjusted back to the darkness from the glowing numbers and he watched with wide eyes while Louis flipped off the covers and began to strip out of his clothes right there on the bed.  

“What are you doing?” Harry’s voice grew higher in pitch, unable to look away from the suddenly naked body across from him.  

“I’m not going to rip out of my clothes am I?” he replied matter of factly and Harry just stared at parts he shouldn’t be seeing as Louis stood up on his knees on the mattress and dove onto the floor.  Instead of the loud crash he would be expecting from anyone else diving onto to the floor, a large wolf now stood between the beds, shaking out his fur like a dog coming in out of the rain.  It was a motion that always followed shifting for himself as well, shaking off the buzz of energy that came with it.  He always thought of it as magic.  

It shouldn’t have surprised him, he lived with shifters, he could shift himself, but he still gaped as the wolf trotted around to the end of the bed.  Louis looked like he could pass for a large Alaskan Malamute or maybe a Husky, dark hair along his back fading into off white legs and paws and the underside of his tail that seemed fluffier than other shifters he had known.  More majestic than others he had known as well.  His stature was smaller than other wolves but still stood at least as tall as Harry’s hip, his stance wide and stocky.    

“You can’t just do that!” Harry protested while the wolf jumped onto the bed and laid down with his paws pointed forward.  He whined high in his throat after laying his head down, looking over at Harry with an unimpressed expression.  Even in the dim light he could see how iridescent his eye colour was, the light blues a stark contrast to the dark fur surrounding them.  They reminded him of his neighbor’s Husky more than any wolves he had seen at camp.  Most of them all had dark coloured eyes, he was sure.  It made him search his memory for what they had looked like in his human form but he couldn’t quite remember.  

Louis’ jaw stretched open in a large yawn, whimpering out before settling back down with his head angled towards him.  

“With a collar and a leash you look like you could be my pet,” Harry mumbled tiredly, smirking at Louis’ huff of indignance. 

Louis shifted around to get comfortable, curling up and tucking his tail in as he finally seemed to settle and relax.  Harry tucked his grin into his pillow, finally letting himself fall asleep to the steady breathing of Louis’ animal lungs.  At least he was quiet this way. 

 

\--

 

The next morning Harry was jolted awake to the shrill ringing of the house phone on the bedside table and then, more alarmingly, loud yaps bouncing against the walls that threatened to burst his ear drums in the small room.  

“Louis! Shut the fuck up!” he threw a pillow at the other bed, picking up the phone to hear the generic wakeup call message before slamming it back down with a groan.  Louis was whining where he stood at alert between the beds, staring at the phone like a foreign object.  

“They’re going to kick us out for having a dog in here,” he mumbled in annoyance, pressing his face into his pillow for just a few more moments of comfort.  “It’s just a phone, calm down.  I could still find a leash if that’s the route you want to take.  Maybe you need one with how you’re acting.”

“How very dare you,” Louis’ voice snapped and he peeked out from his pillow to see the boy standing there with a hand on his popped hip.  His body was again fully unclothed without a hint of shame, his crotch right in Harry’s line of sight as he laid on the bed.  In his sleepy state he didn’t even realize he was staring right at Louis’ soft penis until he moved to sit on the edge of his own bed, curiously lifting up the receiver of the phone, yelping and dropping it with a clatter as the dial tone sounded.  

“Haven’t you ever seen a phone before?” he mumbled as he squeezed his eyes shut to keep himself from gaping at Louis’ body.  

“Maybe in a movie,” he replied, placing the receiver back into its cradle more calmly than a moment before.  “My nan’s isn’t like this.”  

“She probably has a cell phone or a smartphone or whatever.”  Harry rubbed his eyes and reluctantly climbed out of bed, stumbling over to his suitcase to start getting ready for another taxing day.   

He jumped in the shower, angling his head to avoid getting his hair wet but the humid air still made his curls frizz out in every direction.  It took arguably longer to tame his mop of hair than if he had just washed it and started from scratch but it was what it was and by the time he left the bathroom, Louis was fully dressed and sitting on the corner of his bed flipping through the packet they had been given yesterday.  

“Do you know what any of this is for?” he looked up as Harry walked past, looking confused. 

“It’s the schedule for the day and stuff.  How were you expecting to make it through all this if you can’t even read your schedule?”  

“I can read,” Louis frowned and looked down at the papers, mumbling to himself.  Harry ignored him and laced up his shoes, checking his outfit once more in the mirror.  He had to look at least semi decent for the cameras. 

“Well I’m starving and going to get breakfast,” he announced on his way to the door once he had his packet and hoodie in hand.  

“Wait!” Louis panicked, scrambling to get his shoes and things together, “You can’t just leave me.” 

Harry stopped quick enough in the hallway for Louis to run right into his back, stumbling as he rounded on him.  

“Look.  I didn’t join this competition to be a puppy sitter and I can’t be distracted by getting you out of trouble all day so either you can get your act together and do what you were planning on doing before you met me or go home.”  

Harry hadn’t meant to be mean but he still felt guilt twist through him as Louis shrunk under his words.  Louis nodded and slid to the floor, struggling to pull his Vans onto his feet while Harry turned and continued towards the elevators.  They may be the same kind but they were still strangers.  In the end, he had to look out for himself. 

 

The rest of the day passed by in a flurry of rehearsal rooms and challenges that left his throat raw and his body sore.  All the dance routines, although small, seemed well beyond his skill level and he cringed to think about how his flailing limbs would appear when the episodes went to air.  He felt hyper focused on the ever present cameras, sure they were zooming in on him every time he tripped over his own feet.  They probably were.  He was going to be the comedic point of this whole segment.

The vocal sections were more natural for him but even with the hours of practicing leading up to his auditions, the overuse and strain left his vocal chords feeling rough like sandpaper.  He couldn’t count the number of water bottles he had plowed his way through to remedy the situation but he could also tell it wasn’t working.  As a terrible side effect, the amount of liquid he had consumed also led his bladder constantly feeling full with not enough time for as many bathroom breaks as he was starting to need.  

Which is why he found himself nearly sprinting down the hallway the moment they were released for the day, frantically trying to find the nearest rest room to relieve himself.  He desperately held his breath and tightened all his muscles to hold it in, only letting himself breath out once he had pull himself free of his pants, just barely making it to the urinal on the wall.  His hand touched the no doubt germ covered wall in front of him as he leaned forward, closing his eyes as he finally felt relief.  No sooner than he had, his next intake of breath made him snap to attention, nearly turning to piss over the floor at the overwhelming scent that overtook his nostrils and filled his aching lungs.  It was familiar but awakening.  

“Louis…?” Harry called out tentatively though there was no mistaking Louis was close.  It wasn’t hard to remember the identity scent of a wolf once they had met and with Louis’ hitting him so powerfully, there wasn’t any room for doubt.  He heard a small whimper in return, finishing up before tucking himself back into his jeans.  

“Are you okay?” his voice cracked painfully as he knocked gently on the only closed stall door, trying to push it open when he didn’t immediately get a response.  

“Can you open the door?” he tried again roughly, rapping his knuckles against the metal.  A moment later the lock slid back and he was able to push the door open, peeking around it into the stall.  

Louis was seated on the edge of the toilet seat, fully clothed with his face buried in his hands. 

“Are you okay?” he repeated and with a pathetic whimpering moan Louis shook his head.  

“I feel all dizzy,” Louis mumbled against his palms, “And all hot and sweaty.” 

“Are you sick?” Harry leaned against the frame, hand still holding the door open.  

“I don’t know… Maybe… Yes.”  

“Are you going to hurl?” he narrowed his eyes a little while looking him over, Louis looking at him and shaking his head quickly.  He wanted to believe him.  He didn’t want to end up with vomit all over his shoes like he had when walking a drunk mate home.  “Let’s go back to the hotel.  Everyone got released for the day anyway.  How long have you been in here?” 

Louis stood up slowly after Harry nodded towards the exit, holding the stall door open for him, “Not very long.  I just couldn’t be around so many people anymore.  All their smells were giving me a headache.  And I just don’t feel right.” 

Harry nodded in sympathy, automatically resting a comforting hand on the small of Louis’ back to walk him out towards the shuttles.  The feeling Louis described was all too familiar to him.  Coming back from junior wolves camp every summer where he spent months learning to refine his sense of smell, it was always a few weeks of being back at school before he was able to tune out the muddled mix of human that invaded his nostrils from every direction.  It was unfortunate that so many teenage boys in his peer group smelled like old socks doused in cheap cologne.  Once when he was seven his teacher had even held him after school for cleaning duties after telling the boy beside him in music class that he smelled like wet dog.  That was one defining moment in his life when he began to truly realize he was different, that it wasn’t “normal” to sniff your neighbors.  

It was probably a new experience for Louis to be suddenly thrust into such a sea of humans.  There wouldn’t have been many chances for him to learn to cope in such a sensory environment.  It was something they had to adapt to.  

They were both quiet on the ride back to the hotel, bypassing the common spaces provided by the show in ballrooms off the lobby that already swelled with noise.  Harry’s throat felt swollen and raw and if not for all the stress he had been putting on his vocal chords, he would think he was also getting sick.  The last thing he felt like doing was horse around with the other rowdy contestants when his body felt like death.  

Louis was already stripping his shirt up over his head before they had even entered their hotel room leaving a trail of clothing behind him.  The white pawed wolf was standing in Harry’s path once he had secured the deadbolt and swing latch and turned.  He didn’t even startle at the sight.  He looked out of place in the generic hotel room with too many patterns but already appeared more at ease, jumping up onto his bed that had been neatly remade by the housekeeping staff while they were gone.

Harry also stripped down to his boxers, pulling on some joggers and a tshirt before crawling up onto his own bed.  He flopped down onto his back and let himself sink into the crisp linen covered pillows.  The calm quiet wrapped around him like a blanket and if he let himself, it would be all too easy to slip into sleep.  

Eventually the ache of his throat forced him up.  Icy wolf eyes followed him while he made his way over to the small coffee maker on the desk, sifting through the subpar tea selection with a small sigh.  It would have to do.  Being picky when it came to complementary tea seemed a little dramatic.  He filled the single cup carafe at the bathroom sink and returned to the desk, turning it on before unwrapping one of the provided paper coffee cups.  

“It heats the water,” Harry answered Louis’ silent question after glancing over, wincing at the hoarse sound of his own voice.  The tea bag carried an off brand label but he still tore open the packet and placed it in the cup, flopping down into the desk chair to wait.  He wished he had some honey and lemon to aid his throat but not enough to go scavenging for some outside their room or call for such an odd request.  

Once his tea was ready, he carried it over to the bed, setting it down on the small nightstand next to the alarm clock.  He piled the pillows to prop himself up and switched on the tv, channel surfing until he found something at least vaguely interesting.  

He tried to relax but Louis’ scent had grown stronger in the room, leaving his nerves buzzing in a strange way that kept him on edge just enough to keep him alert.  If it wasn’t for that reminding him that Louis was still in the room it would have been the high pitched whines that cut over the hum of the tv volume every time he looked away.  

Finally, Harry sighed and lolled his head to the side to look over at the wolf, watching his ears perk up.  He couldn’t hear his messages like he would if they had both shifted, if they were in the same pack at least, but most of their communication as animals was body language anyway.  Wolves were very tactile both as animals and humans and though they hadn’t known each other long, there was a kinship there that would had to be actively denied when one needed it.

“Fine, come on,” he motioned.  Louis’ reaction was immediate.  He jumped down from his own bed and jostled the mattress beside Harry as he made himself comfortable with his body snug against his leg. It was a bit surprising when he rested his head across Harry’s lap but he didn’t push him away.  It didn’t seem awkward though, even when Louis visibly sniffed at his clothes, closing his eyes as he settled.  

The overgrown pup felt like a furnace against him, his fur warm under his hand that naturally moved to rest between his ears.  The gentle vibration from his throat against his thigh made him smile, absently stroking the silky fur beneath his fingers with that encouragement.  They didn’t purr like cats but it was the same concept, undetectable to anyone who didn’t know to look for it.  

They stayed like that while Harry sipped at his tea, reruns of old sitcoms coming and going across the tv screen while Louis’ breathing evened out.  Harry had never owned a pet, the concept had always seemed too weird for their type, but he could imagine that this must be how humans got so attached to their animals.  His friends’ dogs had always been drawn to him, able to sense the connection but usually wanted to play, too worked up and excited the same way they might be when meeting a new puppy friend.  He didn’t dislike their reaction but he’d also never let them get this close.  It felt nice.  

“I have to wee,” Harry said reluctantly once his tea was long gone.  He kept his voice soft though he wasn’t sure he could force more than that out of it right now.  Louis whimpered pathetically as he slipped out from beneath him, shifting over into the warmth his body had left behind. 

Once he relieved himself, he stared at himself in the mirror.  He looked just about as worn down as he felt.  This competition was more difficult than he had anticipated it being and it was already starting to show.  He coughed to clear his throat and found it didn’t feel any better.  Stars burst through his vision as he rubbed his eyes in frustration, mentally shouting at himself to get it together but overthinking wasn’t going to help him.  If Louis really was coming down with something, he didn’t want his exhausted body to be even more susceptible to it and then get actually sick on top of everything.  He needed to baby himself a little, focus on some self-care.  

“I’m going to order food if you want anything,” he croaked out as he made his way back into the main room, “But you’re going to have to shift and pick it out yourself.”  

He wasn’t exactly annoyed with Louis anymore but also wasn’t in the mood to cater to him.  Chicken noodle soup was thankfully on the menu and he tossed the laminated cardstock down onto the bed just as Louis shifted back into his very naked form.  

There was one more teabag left next to the coffee maker and he made a mental note to order more from room service while he started preparing himself another cup. 

“What’s this mean?” Louis’ voice startled him slightly, turning to see him pointing at something on the menu.  

“Spaghetti?” Harry questioned after squinting to see the text, “You don’t know what spaghetti is?” 

“‘Course I know what spaghetti is but it’s kind of a weird word,” he responded a little defensively, huffing a little while looking back at the card.  

“Wait, do you know how to read?” he asked after a moment, leaning back against the desk, propping himself up on his palms.  

“Obviously,” Louis snorted then more quietly, “Most stuff anyway.” 

“How’d you learn English and all that if you were always out in the wild?” 

“I’m not the Little Mermaid walking on two legs for the first time or something,” he scoffed, “And before you ask, yes I’ve seen The Little Mermaid before.  Had to learn how to read at least a little, didn’t I?  Don’t want to wander into a hunting zone or something because I didn’t know what the sign said.  We’re not stupid.  I’m not stupid.” 

Harry raised his hands in surrender, “I didn’t think you were.  I just figured you probably didn’t spend much time in a school is all.”  

“Mum taught me,” Louis said after a few moments of eying Harry for sincerity, “She went to school for a while when she was younger.  Before her alpha.” 

Harry sometimes forgot how hierarchies worked in the wild, he had never truly experienced it.  It had been decades since they mattered amongst assimilated wolves, dynamics changing drastically when the traditional pack was nearly impossible to maintain in the human world.  There were still dominant behaviours displayed by alphas over betas but they tended to be in more subtle and trivial ways.  In ways their traits were displayed much like jocks within sports, strength and superiority shown as friendly competition and banter.  It was like reading in his human history books about girls being married off by 14 instead of something he actually witnessed.  

“Did you ever want to go to school?” 

Louis hesitated for a moment and it seemed like he was choosing his words carefully.  Harry’s brows wrinkled, thinking it was an straightforward question.

“Sometimes but I don’t think I would have liked it,” he shrugged it off and held up the menu as a distraction, “I’ll have this.”  He pointed to a small picture of a burger and fries printed on the menu and Harry sat on the edge of the opposite bed near the house phone to call in their order.  

Louis was sitting with crossed legs on top of the duvet opposite from him and Harry stumbled over his words when he realized he had been staring directly between Louis’ spread thighs.  The other was half hard and unbothered by it, stretching back onto the bed with a wide yawn that further exposed himself.  Harry could barely stumble over his answers at the sight, hanging up the receiver without remembering a word of the interaction.  

He adjusted himself in his joggers before clearing his throat, grabbing Louis’ attention.  

“Can you, um, at least put on some shorts or something?” 

“Why?” Louis blinked at him as if the simple suggestion needed explanation. 

“Because you’re naked??” his voice cracked, gesturing to the obvious. 

“I’m burning up and clothes are itchy,” he responded simply with a shrug.  

Harry dragged his hands over his face with a groan after Louis casually adjusted himself in plain sight, displaying not a shred of modesty spread out over his bed.  All of his exposed skin also made his scent roll off of him in sweet waves and Harry wondered if his attraction to it was based on the novelty of meeting a new wolf or maybe just the purity that came with spending a majority of his life in his natural form.  Either way he found any further fight for him to cover himself dying on his tongue if it meant indulging in the unobstructed swell of the aroma around him.  He felt himself being drawn in by it but he wouldn’t be able to say why.  

“Are you running a fever?” Harry finally collected himself enough to ask, resisting the urge to close the space between them and press his hand to Louis’ forehead to check like his mum always did.  

“I dunno.  I feel better I think.  You’re kind of calming you know,” Louis shrugged, “You smell like warm and cozy.”

Harry would have laughed at the description if not for the way Louis’ eyes fell shut, a small smile curling his lips like he was sinking into it while he made a show of scenting the air.  It made him swallow hard and his stomach flutter, the happy shift in Louis’ own scent shooting straight down to his dick.  

He let out an involuntary whimper when he realized Louis had started lazily stroking himself, nostrils flaring with each slow breath he took in. 

“Smell so good,” he moaned and Harry was gone, completely wrapped up in the sight before him.  His mouth was gaping open and he pressed the heel of his hand into his crotch.

A loud rapping on the door knocked him out of his stupor and he found himself kneeling on the floor next to the bed, his body tilted forward towards the show.  When had that happened?  He shook himself out of it and made his way to the door, strategically angling himself to hide his thinly veiled erection behind it when he answered.  

The attendant rolled the cart just inside the room and stood there waiting as Harry stared at him blankly.  

“That will be 45.50,” the man said after clearing his throat, “The show is only taking care of the room, sir.” 

“Oh.  OH!” it finally clicked, flustered as he dug around for his wallet that was probably still in the pocket of his discarded jeans.  “Fuck, I hope I have cash,” he muttered to himself, feeling through his dirty clothes.  

“You mean this?” Louis asked from behind him, turning around in time to see several large bills falling to the floor from the wad of cash crinkled up in his hand.  

“What the fuck?  Where did you get that?” he hissed, plucking a few bills from his hand anyway to shove at the attendant, insisting he didn’t need change.  They were already going to be the gossip of the hotel, he was sure, after Louis had been standing with his naked boner in plain sight and more cash than any normal person would ever carry.  Oh god, it probably looked like he had hired a rent boy.

“You’re going to get mugged flashing that around.  Where did you get this?” he knelt to collect the bills on the floor, mentally estimating how much was there before his eyes moved to see more spilling out of one of the zipper pockets of his duffel.  

“Alpha has lots of it,” Louis shrugged, squatting to shove the handful back into his bag like it was nothing.  

“Did you steal this??” his worn out voice rose in pitch, pulling at his hair anxiously.  

“No, he gets more all the time.” 

“Does HE steal it??”

“Why would he steal it when people give it to him?” Louis turned his head to give him a strange look, turning back to zip up his bag.  

Harry’s mind was whirring with a million possible schemes and mafia connections, dropping to sit on the edge of the bed, food forgotten.  

“People give it to him for living in his houses.  Is that not how it works?” Louis looked genuinely confused when he turned and stood, brows knitted together. 

“You mean for rent?  He owns rental properties?”

“Oh yeah, maybe,” he shrugged again, sniffing the air and following his nose over to the forgotten cart of food.  “If you need some just take it.”

Louis brought his plate over to the bed, laying out on his stomach with his feet in the air before shoving food into his mouth.  Harry let his eyes wander over the curve of his exposed bum before grabbing his own bowl of soup and spoon and taking it over to the desk, sipping at spoonfuls of broth with more acceptable table etiquette.  

“Where’s your pack?” Louis asked through a full mouth of fried potato, “Did you get run out by your alpha?” 

“What?  No, of course I didn’t get run out.  We don’t really have packs.  My family lives a few hours away.  My sister lives here with her boyfriend, though.  She moved here for uni.” 

Louis looked confused for a moment, “You mean like a human family?” 

“We live most of our lives in the human world so I guess we’ve adopted their ways.  Mom, dad, a couple kids.  Normal family units I guess,” Harry shrugged a little.  

Even at camp he hadn’t met anyone who really lived in pack dynamics anymore, even within their families.  He knew some had stricter alpha dads but human kids had strict parents as well.  He didn’t really see much of a difference.  Even the more traditional parents who frowned upon their kids marrying humans, it wasn’t much different than the ways some parents still frowned upon their human kids marrying outside their social status or sometimes their religion or race.  He hadn’t been brought up that way but wasn’t naive enough to ignore that it still happened.

“Do you have an omega?” 

“An omega…?” Harry felt his sore voice grind over the word but ignored it as he cocked his head to the side in confusion.   

“Yeah I just don’t want to cause any problems if you go home smelling like me.  I know I should have asked first but I’ve never met someone outside our packs and I didn’t really think of it until just now… didn’t really think I’d find an alpha I’d like.”

“Louis, there hasn’t been an omega in Europe for decades, since before my grandparents can remember.”  He spoke hesitantly, not wanting to make Louis feel stupid or uneducated.  Everything he knew about omegas he had learned in JW camp which he was now sure Louis had never attended.  Omegas had simply ceased to exist in modern times.  Omegas could only be born to omegas and, since they had to remain in their wolf form while pregnant, the simple logistics of living full time in the human world had naturally phased them out.   

“I’m an omega,” Louis answered him simply, a drop of ketchup from his burger sliding down his chin while he chewed with an open mouth.  

“No you’re not,” he snorted, clearing his throat when the sudden burst of air made his throat burn.  

“‘Course I am.  Why’d ya think I wanted to leave?” 

“Thought you wanted to try out being human,” he responded but his thoughts were already turning, nose trying to subtly inspect his scent again.  It would explain the flowery sweet tones and the way it seemed to reel him in with every deep and concentrated breath.  But it just didn’t seem possible.  Then again, Louis’ pack did live nearly full time in the wild so that would make it possible...

“Well that too,” Louis kept his head down, pushing his food around on his plate with greasy fingers. When he spoke again, Harry almost didn’t hear him yet it the weight of his words hung heavy in the room.  “Didn’t want alpha to have me.” 

It wasn’t that Harry didn’t know about pack dynamics but at the same time he really didn’t know about them.  Traditionally each sub-pack consisted of an alpha, several omegas and the rest betas.  The alpha of the pack was the only allowed to mate with the omegas of the pack which drove his omega children to join other sub-packs if they wished to have children.  Of course that hadn’t been in practice for many decades and the idea seemed so foreign to him now since adapting to human family dynamics.  Even the traditionalists didn’t follow that form.  But it seemed maybe that was exactly what Louis was implying.  

“What do you mean?” he couldn’t help but ask, he needed clarification, needed to know that’s not what he meant.  

“Alpha’s not my dad so if I went into heat…” Louis trailed off and shrugged, shoving another bite of food into his mouth. 

“So you don’t have any say in it?” Harry stared at him in disbelief.  Louis shook his head while licking off each finger displaying the least amount of manners.  

“Well he’s my alpha isn’t he?” Louis cocked his head to the side quizzically, “But I guess I do a little bit.  If I find another pack or if I decide to live as a human.  My mum let me stay with my nan so much so I could make my own decision about what I wanted before I started having heats.  Alpha’s not like my dad was… I wouldn’t have a choice if he got to me first.  He banished my friend Liam because he was an alpha so he would be the only one in our pack.  When my dad was alpha he just wanted everyone to be happy.”  

“What happened to your dad?” 

“He fell through the ice during a hunt one winter and died in the cold before he could make it back.”  Louis shrugged sadly and pushed his plate away, wiping his hands off on the white hotel duvet without a second thought leaving grease marks behind.  

“I’m sorry,” Harry croaked out with a heavy weight settling in his stomach.  He couldn’t imagine losing one of his parents, especially like that.  

“I was usually with him and it was the first time I wasn’t since I had just presented and he wanted to protect me.  Could have been both of us I guess.  Or neither one of us.  One of our betas fell through with him and almost didn’t make it back.  Alpha was my dad’s friend and just sort of took over when he was gone.  I guess he’s not that bad, my mum let him claim her.  I just don’t want him to claim me, it would feel like being bonded to my dad or something.”

“Are you going to join a new pack then?”  He knew he shouldn’t but Harry found his lifestyle so fascinating he needed to know more.  It was so different from his own and more like the history books from camp that he never dreamed still existed.  None of it was his business and he knew he was being nosy but Louis wasn’t hesitating and so he continued to push.

“Haven’t gone into heat yet, have I?  I still have time.  Nan says it might be good for me to go back, stability and all that.  Then I could raise my pups with my mum.  I don’t know.  I haven’t decided.  I don’t really think I’m ready for that.” 

“Would he be mad if you left?  Is that why you didn’t tell anyone you were coming here?” 

“Yeah, male omegas are rare so of course he wants me for himself, wants to show me off to the other packs.  He already doesn’t like me spending so much time with my nan or with humans.  He says omegas were meant to stay hidden away as wolves.  He says my scent changes when I’m human too long.” 

“He’s lying.”  The words rushed out of Harry harsh and clear with undertones he had never heard from himself and he wasn’t sure why he was suddenly so determined to correct him.  He cleared his throat and shook himself out of his own surprise, schooling his features and leveling his tone.  “I mean, your scent doesn’t change from shifting.  It’s a little less noticeable in human form but really that’s just dulled senses.  You always smell like you, you always smell good.”  

He blushed when he realized he spoke the last bit out loud, hiding his face behind his tea as he took a long sip.  That wasn’t something you just admitted to people, to anyone.  For them it was even a little inappropriate.  Scenting someone and acknowledging it showed intent and they had just met.  

“So do you,” Louis responded bashfully, making Harry grow a deeper shade of red, “Smell good, I mean.  You smell really good.”  

They would look like giddy school children if anyone had witnessed their exchange, both hiding their grins from each other with blushing cheeks while stealing quick moments of eye contact.  The flutters collecting in Harry’s stomach felt good though, felt warm and bubbly through his body and made his smile grow.  

“Can I see your wolf?” Louis asked shyly, peeking over at him with nervous hope.  

No one had ever asked to see his wolf before.  In camp it just happened, it was expected and it was normal.  Camp is where they went to BE wolves for the summer and of course his family had seen him.  To hear Louis ask felt intimate, felt more like he had asked to see him naked for the first time when in reality it was quite the opposite when he was an animal covered in fur.  He didn’t have a reason to deny him and a small thrill jolted through his body at the thought of Louis’ eyes on him, solely on him because he had asked to see him that way.  He found himself nodding before his brain had even caught up.  

“Can you, um, turn around?” he stuttered nervously.  It was an excited nervous but even though Louis was still completely nude, it felt strange to remove his clothes while he was watching. 

“Why?” Louis seemed oblivious to his discomfort and shamelessly stared at Harry’s chest once he had pulled his top off and tossed it on top of his open suitcase.  

“Because I have to take my clothes off!” 

“So?  There aren’t any humans around,” Louis shrugged like his answer was common sense, like humans were the only ones with modesty when it came to their naked bodies.  And maybe he had a point.  Harry was technically the one who had molded to human ways of thinking, not Louis.  To Louis, clothes were just accessories to playing the part, to appearing human.

In the end Harry shrugged and pushed his joggers down his legs.  His skin flushed in embarrassment and he was sure his cock had twitched at the attention but he tried to ignore it under Louis’ heavy stare.  He took a deep breath and one step forward and by his third all four of his paws were firmly on the carpet below. 

He’d never felt under a microscope in his fur before and ducked his head with a small whine.  For the first time he felt self-conscious and began to overthink.  What would Louis think of him?  Louis was a gorgeous wolf, one that Harry could sit and admire for hours and he hadn’t even seen him run yet.  He was sure Louis would be a beautiful streak of white and grey across the forest, the movement of his muscles twisting his pelt to show off the fade of dark to light.  

Harry found himself suddenly wanting to hide his own mismatched paws, the white socks that only appeared on his front feet and not the back.  He sat back on his haunches to hide the way the long fur of his tail had a wavy pattern that he could never keep straight.  It made him feel like a poodle.

“You’re brown!” Louis’ voice filled with wonder and his eyes were wide.  He leaned forward as if he couldn’t help himself, openly gawking like he had never seen a wolf before.  His arm was raised, hand hovering above Harry’s head until he had changed positions, sitting on the edge of the bed with his feet firmly planted on the floor right in front of him.  

A sharp smell slapped him in the face at the same time Louis’ fingers buried themselves into his fur, his senses overloaded on which to focus on first.  The aroma surrounding him won and he wouldn’t have had an easier time finding its source even if there had been a neon sign pointing the way.  Louis’ legs had parted when he leaned forward to pet Harry between the ears and it took everything in his power not to immediately shove his snout into his naked crotch though his paws were already shuffling him closer to sit between the V of his legs on their own accord.  

“Tickles!” Louis giggled.  The sound snapped him to attention to realize his nose was mere centimeters away from Louis’ naked dick, his naked dick which was now half hard and level with his face.  He didn’t make any movement to push him away, though, even with his fur tickling the insides of his thighs.  Instead Louis sunk both hands into his fur, rubbing him behind his ears exactly the way he liked it.  He felt boneless and rested his head against Louis’ warm thigh, whining high in pleasure.  

“You’re so soft,” Louis moaned and he was sure it was one of the only contexts where that description was sexy.  Sexy was an understatement, Louis’ declaration sounding downright filthy.  It went straight to his dick which was also a new experience for him.  He was usually with his family when he shifted so experimenting with his doggy bits wasn’t exactly something he had been able to experience.  He hadn’t even realized he had maybe  _ wanted _ to until that moment.  Maybe.  But now was hardly the time either.  Even if Louis’ dick was becoming stiff right in front of his face.  

“Never seen a brown wolf before, not all brown anyway.  ‘S so pretty, and soft,” Louis was mumbling now, probably to himself as he cataloged Harry’s features verbally.  He might have been more bashful about it if Louis’ scent wasn’t scrambling his brain into instincts over rational thought.  He’d never had a problem fighting them back before, had never had a reason to doubt his control but maybe he had just never truly experienced them.  Maybe his wolf wanted him to just give in.  Maybe this was what his nose was made for.  He felt high, every breath in through his nose feeling like a hit of strong weed and soon his brain was fuzzy and floating.  His alpha felt alive in a way that it never had, awakened and telling him to pursue the source of the smell at any cost. 

Louis giggled again and a tug at his ear broke through to him, at least a little.  To his horror, he had lost himself, finding that he had nuzzled his nose right between Louis’ legs, nosing up under his balls where his scent was the strongest.  

“Tickles,” Louis giggled out again and he yanked himself back, opening his mouth to breath though with his wolf senses, it wasn’t much different, the sweet air spreading out over his tongue instead.  

He inspected Louis’ face and was surprised to find him smiling and not at all bothered by his actions, his cheeks pink and his eyes crinkled at the corners in a way that had to be genuine.  There wasn’t any evidence of Louis being uncomfortable though it did little to ease his embarrassment as he backed further away and tried to take in long breaths that weren’t such direct hits of what he now knew was Louis’ omega spice.

Instead it seemed to invite Louis closer.  He stood from his position on the edge of the bed and started towards him until suddenly the bright blue eyes of his wolf were staring back.  His scent was more distinct in this form, more natural though the essence stayed the same.  

He barely had time to think before Louis was scenting him, pushing his face up against his neck and sliding over his silky fur.  Harry stayed frozen in place, not even blinking when Louis swished the end of his tail over his face before coming around for another pass.  Wolves were naturally affectionate but just as everything else seemed to be with Louis, their contact felt more intimate than it had with any of his friends or family in the past.  Louis was rubbing against him with clear intent, the mere concept making his bones vibrate.  Louis was blatantly flirting.  

His eyes fell shut to give his other senses priority, the heat rolling off Louis’ body, the nearly undetectable noises he was making causing his ears to twitch but most of all his delicious scent.  No one had warned him about Louis’ scent though he wasn’t sure he would have believed them if they had.  Just breathing him in was like sinking into a cloud.  It made him feel boneless and light yet also grounded him with something he couldn’t explain other than to say it was distinctly alpha.  He had never felt more secure in his skin, never as confident in what he was or what he was born to do.  With this awakening came purpose.  

Louis let out a whine that had his eyes flying open, the warmth of his body gone from his bubble of space.  He was so aware of the other’s presence that he automatically knew which direction to look, turning his head as he watched Louis flop onto the carpet and begin to roll onto his back.  

Oh god.  This was mating behaviour.  Louis was presenting himself to him in the middle of an overused hotel room with humans just feet away from them on the other side of either wall.  Fuck.  This wasn’t how he was expecting his night to go.  

He laid down with his head between his paws, watching Louis roll in front of him with a longing that pulled at his soul.  Whimpering, he crawled forward enough to nose at Louis’ fur, giving in just enough to scent up his neck and nuzzle into the space under his jaw.  He hoped it would reassure him enough to not feel rejected when he reluctantly backed away just moments later.

It was easy enough for him to reach the lamp on the desk with his paw, switching it off and drenching the room in darkness.  It wasn’t difficult for him to see in the dark, especially in this form.  It was just different, the reverse of The Wizard of Oz where the lack of light just made everything seem closer to a black and white movie.  

He jumped up onto his own bed, circling a few times before finding a spot to curl up.  Louis remained on the floor and his heart ached with the emotions rolling through his scent in forlorn waves.  Harry wanted to give in, his body and his instincts were telling him to but the last threads of rational thought urged him to wait.  They hadn’t even talked about it even if their wolves were telling them it didn’t matter, telling them to give into what felt natural.  

Harry let out a whine of loneliness, whimpering until Louis reluctantly shuffled over with eyes downcast and his tail between his legs.  The rejection appeared to have affected him more than Harry thought it would and he immediately felt guilty for it.  He raised his head and whined until Louis joined him on the bed, laying down with a clear space between them.

Harry shuffled over until they were curled up together, shifting around so that Louis’ head ended up resting against his shoulder.  He could feel his lips stretch into a smile, even in this form and nuzzled his nose deeply into the fur of Louis’ neck.  Louis was a furnace of an animal but his temperature was nearly as comforting as his scent.  It took a while for Louis to calm down, finally mellowing until his heartbeat was back to a slow and steady pace.  

He wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that, curled up with each other for just the comfort of it.  It could have been minutes or hours, time meaning nothing when they had nowhere else to be.  Eventually Harry felt their breathing evening out together and before long, they had both fallen into a comfortable sleep.  

 

\--

 

Harry awoke with his hair standing on end and his muzzle pulled up in a menacing snarl.  It took him a few long moments to realize his reaction had been startled out of him by the house phone ringing on the table.  He scolded himself for having a similar reaction that Louis had the morning before and quickly jumped off the mattress to silence the obnoxious noise.  He shifted and placed the receiver back in its place, rubbing tiredly at his eyes while he tried to regain his bearings.  It was disorienting to wake up as a wolf.  He blinked a few times to find crystal eyes staring straight ahead at him but not at his face.  

“Fuck,” he groaned, hands moving to cover his exposed morning wood even though by then it was pointless.  Louis’ scent assaulted him, even more powerful than he remembered it being last night and he could feel it clinging to every inch of his skin.  It teased him with every inhale.  

He quickly disappeared into the bathroom and locked the door behind him.  What was wrong with him?  Since when had he lost the ability to control himself?  His ability to think rationally?  Maybe that was an exaggeration but even scenting Louis the way he had felt out of character to him but fuck he smelled so good.  It kept turning him on and it didn’t help that he kept finding one of them naked. 

After a few mumbled curses he gave in and wrapped his fist around his cock, squeezing it in frustration.  He reached in and turned on the shower, adjusting the temperature until it was just hot enough to tolerate.  His skin began to turn pink the moment he stepped under the spray, hissing at the contrast of the ice cold tile as he leaned back against it. 

Louis scent ran off his body but instead of disappearing, intensified in the humid air filling the small space and making his nostrils flair.  He just had to get it out of his system, that was it.  A quick and punishing wank to chase away all the images that were threatening the edges of his thoughts.  

That wasn’t what happened as he began to stroke himself.

His memory conjured up the sight of Louis rolling around for him, presenting himself, with no hesitation, for his alpha to take.  Louis had lounged around the room naked for most of the evening so it wasn’t difficult to imagine him up on all fours, back arched and presented to him with legs spread.  The warmth of Louis’ most intimate parts against his nose was still fresh on his nerves and he felt precum ooze out at just the memory of his scent.  

Fuck.  

He nearly doubled over with the force of his orgasm, his dick feeling thicker in his hand than it ever had before.  He gave himself a few moments to regain his vision before looking down where his dick was still gripped in his hand.  

“What the fuck,” he muttered and blinked a few times.  His dick  _ was _ bigger and looked more engorged than he had ever seen it.  His tip was still sputtering with his release, twitching with aftershocks with each pulse.  It felt like he was still coming.  That was new.

The base of his dick looked painfully swollen but didn’t hurt when he cautiously slide his hand down to investigate.  Instead another pulse of come shot out at the sensation and he squeezed the area on instinct.  It felt so good his knees nearly buckled, reaching out for the shower door to steady himself.  

“What the fuck,” he muttered to himself again, staring down at himself until his erection finally began to flag, his fingers pruning from the length of time spent under the spray.  

He quickly washed his hair with the hotel provided shampoo that smelled like lemons and scrubbed himself until he felt cleansed of any lingering scent that was not his own or something artificial.  With the water turned off and towel hastily wrapped around his hair, he opened the bathroom door and was immediately hit with Louis’ strong scent all over again.  It shot straight through him and made his oversensitive dick twitch hard between his legs.  

He rushed across the room and got dressed as quickly as possible, holding his breath as long as he could, only taking a shallow breath through his mouth when absolutely necessary.  His hair was going to dry a curly mess but he couldn’t stand to be in the room for longer than he had to be with his senses overwhelmed and libido pulsing wildly through his veins.  

“Bye Louis! Good luck today!!” Harry squeaked out, groaning internally when his vocal chords scratched together painfully.  The tea had done nothing to sooth his throat the night before.  

As soon as the hotel door had slammed shut he gasped for air, his head pulsing with the temporary lack of oxygen.  He slowly returned to normal on the walk down to grab some breakfast and by the time he was on the shuttle to the next round of competition he had found at least a small space of normal.  

Even if Louis’ scent was no longer clinging to his skin, the memory was fresh and while he waited in the downtime between morning sessions, his mind kept wandering back to the hotel room.  He hadn’t smelled Louis all morning and he wondered where he had been assigned for the day.  It must have been far enough away for his scent to be covered.  His dick twitched every time he thought of searching him out and every time his dick reminded him it was there his thoughts circled back to how hard he had been that morning.  It hadn’t seemed normal but at the same time had felt so exceptionally amazing that he couldn’t help wanting go again just to see what would happen.  Maybe he had finally experienced a truly mind blowing orgasm that had always sounded exaggerated in romance novels.  Trying to explain it didn’t make him want to lock himself in the shower to go at it again any less.  Even if it seemed pathetic.  

Self love, he reminded himself.  

 

\--

 

The shuttle ride back to the hotel at the end of the day was one that passed in a flash for Harry.  His eyes burned and he had to focus on his breathing in order to keep the tears at bay that were threatening to start a waterfall over his eyelashes.  He managed to hold them back until he was swiftly moving through the lobby, sniffing hard when he got to the elevator.  Luckily he was the only passenger that was able to slip in before the doors closed and had a welcome moment to himself to just let them fall.  

It had been a horrible day.  Not only had he been distracted by Louis or more accurately preoccupied with his absence, his voice had not recovered overnight.  By the time he was on stage he could barely croak out an introduction let alone sing what his group had prepared.  His embarrassment overrode any other emotion until it finally hit him that he was going home as he watched the scenery pass through the window of the shuttle.  His journey was over and it felt like each of his dreams were being plucked painfully from his heart one by one while he relieved the memory of every fumbled step he had taken through the process.  Suddenly the small crack in his voice during his second producers audition was beating him up, those fumbled dance moves taunting him in vivid details.  

His eyes were already puffy by the time the elevator opened on his floor and he was grateful that the corridor was deserted so he didn’t have endure another round of shame that he couldn’t even take his failure like an adult.  

He rubbed at his eyes so hard he saw stars and they already felt swollen and irritated, his nose wet and stuffy and that didn’t help the state of his throat.  Turning the corner towards his room, he sniffed hard and tried to collect himself but stopped short and froze with the action.  

Even through his impaired senses it hit him like the heavy humidity of summer, his nostrils flaring and his vision suddenly hazy in a surge that swirled through his body and shot down directly to his dick that twitched almost painfully it was so sudden.  Any thoughts from the day were immediately erased when his body started moving on its own, all of his attention zeroed in on the doorway down the hall where that consuming scent was coming from.  His body was so determined that there could have been an obstacle course in his way and he would make his way through it without any issue.

His hands were shaking as he fumbled to get his room key out, palms already so sweaty that they slipped uncomfortably on the cool metal of the door handle but he eventually was able to push it open.  It slammed closed heavily behind him and his keycard fell from his hand as his jaw physically fell open at what the room revealed to him.  

Louis was completely naked on Harry’s bed, face shoved into his pillow and knees planted firmly on the mattress with his back arched and ass high in the air.  He actually felt the ache of his eyes dilating so quickly like he had just looked away from a bright light but it was nothing compared to the pulse of his fully hard dick in his jeans.  

“Holy shit,” Harry muttered.  His fingers fumbled with the button and zip of his jeans, desperately needing to relieve the pressure against the denim.  He couldn’t even think about what he was doing, it just needed to be done.

“Harry,” Louis’ broken moan sent a rush of heat through him that had him pulling his shirt over his head like it was on fire.  He watched in shock as Louis fingers plunged into his own hole, the wet squelch of them sounding absolutely obscene over the moans and whines that were pouring out of him.  Harry realized he was fisting his own naked cock and squeezed as Louis shuttered and came over the wrinkled duvet. 

He was panting as his fingers slipped out of his hole, his arm flopping to his side.  Harry could clearly see the thick slick shining on his skin, his hole clenching at nothing in the middle of the mess.  His thick thighs were covered and it made Harry’s mouth water, lips smacking together after his tongue darted out to moisten them.  

“Harry please,” Louis pleaded.  He twisted his body to make eye contact with Harry, pupils blown out, his cheeks flushed.  His desperate whines matched the look on his face and everything about it pulled him forward like puppet strings attached to every nerve.  

“Louis, what’s… um,” he swallowed hard and moistened his lips, finding it difficult to even speak, “What’s happening?” His voice was rough and broken, an edge of panic lacing it.  It was terrifying to have his body reacting in such an unfamiliar way, something more powerful than himself driving him forward.  

“Harry, please,” Louis begged again and it appeared he was having the same problem forming words, “Heat, I think I’m in heat.  Help me.”

His eyes shut like he was in pain, pleading for Harry to help him and it was taking everything within him to hold back while at the same time trying to decipher what he could even do to help. 

He opened his glossy eyes and something between them clicked, an invisible band tethering them in an unspoken agreement.  “Alpha.” Louis spoke and that was a magic word.  Harry felt a dominance bloom in his chest that he had never felt before, his inner alpha pressing forward with firm instructions to take, claim, protect.  

He felt himself growling before he heard it and it felt so empowering that his body began to buzz and every movement that he made seemed like he had been born to do it.  

“Please,” Louis whimpered again when Harry’s knees touched the end of the bed, ready to devour the sight in front of him.  Louis pressed his chest into the mattress, pushing his hips back and spreading his knees further apart.  He was presenting to him and his wolf began to go wild.

Pheromones were assaulting him and he needed to get closer to the source, his face drawn closer until he was pressing his nose directly into Louis slick.  He openly scented him without shame, tongue even sliding out for a taste to enhance the drug that was already going straight to his head, to his dick.  He pulled back just enough to see how Louis’ sweet slick was sliding from his hole and down over his balls.  There wasn’t a moment of hesitation as he leaned down to lick a wide stripe from his balls up to his hole, moaning at the addicting flavour tickling his tastebuds.  

Harry wasn’t a virgin, he had slept with a couple girls and even messed around with some boys but he had never wanted to bury his dick in anyone as much as he wanted to right now, as much as he  _ needed _ to.  His finger gently prodded Louis hole and his hips rocked forward into the air on their own while he watched closely as he pressed the digit in, slick oozing out around his finger with each clench of his hole.  

Louis began to whimper high in his throat and Harry’s wolf jolted to attention with an answering noise, crawling into the bed to soothe the omega any way he needed.  

Omega.  Louis was an omega and all the hypotheticals he had learned about growing up were right there in front of him.  Not only that, he was  _ experiencing _ them and he had never felt so in touch with his instincts in his life.  

“Alpha, please,” Louis sobbed and he realized Louis was still hard even though he had just come.  It was desperate and pleading and it was painful to hear him in such a state, painful to deny him.  

He shuffled up behind him on his knees and spread his hands over the globes of Louis’ cheeks. Gently, he pulled them apart and stared down.  The need was so strong he felt like it was scrambling his brain.  He moaned when his dick made contact with Louis’ wet skin, slick now covering his thighs and oozing out to drip over his erection.  It felt heavy and thick in his hand as he moved to grip it, looking down to see it more swollen than it even had in the shower this morning.  His dick had always been an impressive handful but it had never looked quite like this.  

It had also never felt so sensitive before.  Louis’ heat called out to it like a beacon, radiating warmth like a heat lamp and he was leading his cock head to his hole before he could overthink it.  He began to press his hips forward and it felt like Louis’ body was sucking him in, his thighs trembling where they rested against the outer side of Harry’s.  

Leaning forward, he wrapped an arm around Louis’ middle when his cheeks were cradled against the curve of Harry’s pelvis, both of them vibrating off each other’s energy.  Harry pressed deep, keeping their hips flush together as he moved in slow tight circles.

“Yes, alpha, take me,” Louis’ voice was a breathy moan that spurred him on, pulling out before slowly pushing back in with a moan that shook his whole body.  

“Feels so fucking good,” he groaned deeply and continued his slow and torturous pace, his own teeth pressing white marks into the plush of his bottom lip.  It took an extra thrust each time their hips connected, the small pop of getting that much deeper feeling amazing on the base of his dick, the same sensation he had felt that morning when he squeezed the swollen base after he came.  He chased the feeling and each thrust got more and more purposeful, Louis’ grunts turning into whimpers.  

His hips slammed up against Louis’ ass with a loud slap and that’s when everything happened all at once.  Louis screaming out fell to the background while he felt so overwhelmed his eyes rolled back and his muscles momentarily seized.  He fell forward, off balance when he was unable to continue the momentum he had built up, something holding him in place while his body felt euphoric and suddenly he was coming.  And hard.  

He felt Louis coming with him, his release hitting the arm still gripped around his middle.  Spreading his hand across Louis’ lower belly, he pressed gently and moaned when he could feel feel himself buried deep.  It made his orgasm pulse again and it felt like it was never going to end as it rolled over him in waves.  

It was becoming too much too fast and he tried to pull out again only to find that he physically couldn’t.  He looked down between them and saw the way Louis’ hole stretched each time he tried to pull away.  Louis whimpered uncomfortably every time he tried so he clenched his teeth through the oversenstive pulses as his prolonged orgasm just kept going while staring at the spot where they stayed connected.  

Once the sensation had dulled enough to let him relax, his brain began to return, logical thought trying to piece everything together.  

“What the fuck just happened?” he asked when Louis’ didn’t seem concerned that they seemed to be literally stuck together.  Instead he looked sated, blissful, like he was in heaven as Harry shifted them onto their sides, not without a few winces and pains as their connection pulled.  

“I went into heat and you knotted me,” Louis mumbled out dreamily, his lazy smile suggesting he was still riding his high.  

“Knotted…?  Wait, that’s a real thing??” He couldn’t help but be alarmed, propping himself up just enough to look down at where they were still connected again.  He’d heard of that but had never taken it seriously.  It didn’t seem like something that would be real and surely he had never popped a knot in any of his other sexual experiences with other people or otherwise.  Thank god, though.  That would have really scared the human girls he had had sex with.  

“Harry.  You’re literally tied with me right now.  Of course it’s a real thing.”  

He seemed a little more coherent as he turned to give Harry an unimpressed look.  

“I’ve never.... That’s never happened to me before.”  

Harry slid his fingertips down to feel where they were connected, experimentally pulling against the resistance.  He found that he liked the tug of his knot against Louis’ tight muscles but quickly stopped when Louis whimpered in pain.  

“Sorry,” he mumbled and pressed his hips forward to release the pressure.  It felt like he was still ejaculating and while it still felt good, it wasn’t nearly as strong as the height of his orgasm had been.  It was more like the afterglow that lingered after normal sex.

“Never been knotted before either,” Louis murmured as he snuggled back against Harry’s chest, “Feel so full.” 

“Are we supposed to be stuck like this?” he asked with a growing anxiety.  He didn’t know how they would explain this if they had to call emergency services.  Louis hummed noncommittally, his eyes closed and appearing nearly asleep with a hazy sated smile on hanging on his lips.  

Harry shifted around, wincing a bit at the pull but not exactly in pain.  The subtle tug actually felt good but he felt the way Louis clenched around him and the twitch of his face that said it was uncomfortable for him.  He was finally able to reach his iPad resting on the night table and found a position to use it at least halfway decently.  

His first Google search for “wolf knotting” turned up a row of images of wolves tied together, snug against each other tail to tail.  He stared at them for a few moments with a weird sense of familiarity that did something to him that he wasn’t quite ready to deal with.  But he would have to assess that another time.  

Instead he navigated his way to the wolf sites he was used to.  There were many sites available on the internet that held information on werewolves or really shifters as he preferred to think of himself.  They didn’t have to wait for a full moon or have their wills or mind taken away once they shifted like most of those accounts claimed to say.  It was a lot of fan fantasies and speculation and while some of the information was correct, there was far too much that was just plain wrong.  

But if you knew where to search in the back corners of the internet, there were legitimate places that held information and resources.  Even a type of dating forum to connect with another wolf.  They were run and maintained by his kind and he was very familiar with some of the forums that others his age used to keep in touch.  

He found what he was looking for and began to search through the categories and articles, pausing on one that caught his eye.   

**_Knotting: My Experience with the Wolves of North America_ **

The article was dated just the year before and he quickly clicked to read more.  He had always been a bit envious of what he had heard about the wolves in America.  As far as he knew, most lived in the most Northern parts of the United States and Canada, in sparsely populated areas that allowed them to shift as often and freely as they wanted.  America was actually where the myth of omegas still existing originated.  That was why there were so many wild wolf packs on that continent.  

Wild wolves were just their kind who had chosen not to be human and lost the human elements of their brains and instincts long ago, long enough that they had become nearly fully canine in their genes.  There were some in England and he had happened across one twice in his life.  It was a strange experience to pass them, a sense of familiarity in their eyes and a connection that he couldn’t deny.  They were skittish though and tended to run off before more contact could be made past a few moments of eye contact.  

Once his class had taken a trip to the zoo in Blackpool.  They had followed their guide around the different enclosures until they had reached Wolf Ridge.  He had pressed his face against the glass viewing window and watched with a sense of heartbreak as the animals trotted around their limited space in a line that just circled around to end in the same spot they began.  He hadn’t even realized he had been left behind by the rest of his group until a chaperone found him crying in the same spot an hour later.  It was assumed his tears were caused by being separated from the group but in reality, it was imagining his life locked up in that jail while all his classmates gawked and pointed that had him torn up.  The way the animals had snapped their heads to look at him as he whined in agony for them was forever seared into his memories.  He had never been to a zoo since.  

He opened the article and briefly scanned until he found the information he was looking for.  He would have to read it in entirety once he wasn’t preoccupied with his dick being stuck in someone else’s body. 

_ “Of the few AO couples I was able to track down, at first there was only one Alpha willing to talk openly about their sex lives.  Their village is secluded for a reason: to protect their precious omegas.  Which also included exposing any details to strangers.  Over time I was able to learn that knotting is not a casual affair, reserved for couples bonding and mating for life, and that the length of their ties varied greatly.  Depending on several factors, a tie could last anywhere from 15 to 90 minutes, the longest happening during their heats.” _

“90 minutes?  Fuck,” Harry muttered to himself, closing his eyes and squeezing them tightly shut.  That was a long time to be stuck in such a compromising position.  Louis didn’t seem to mind, still cozied up against Harry’s chest in his sedated state.  He could almost mistake him for being asleep.  90 minutes was a long time.  And though he was confused and in a state of shock at what had just happened, he couldn’t say that he really minded.  It still felt amazing, his dick still pulsing in the aftershocks of an orgasmic state that he was actually enjoying.  He wondered just how full he was pumping Louis, just how empty his balls would feel after this.  

He nuzzled his nose against Louis’ neck, breathing him in with a small smile on his face.  His scent was calming and his nose welcomed it more than even the oxygen he needed to live.  He pressed a kiss to the same spot and cuddled close, closing his eyes and smiling as he chose to let himself enjoy this and figure everything else out later.  

 

\--

 

Harry woke up alone and shivering, goosebumps covering his skin in the frigid air of the room.  He was having a hard time placing where he was and blindly searched around for the edge of the duvet to pull over himself and winced when he shifted.  There was a dull ache between his legs which quickly sparked his memory and he lifted the duvet again to look down at his dick.  He prodded the base with his fingertips and found that the ache originated from the spot where his knot had expanded.  It wasn’t painful but similar to the feeling after a long hard workout.  He assumed it was from the stretch of a knot that had never popped before.  He forced himself to assume it was normal.  

There was a part of him that couldn’t wait to brag about what had happened to his friends but also part of him that wanted to keep Louis all to himself.  It was also difficult to realize that there were only certain friends he could even brag about this with.  He couldn’t walk up to his friends from school and brag about popping a knot the same way he might have after losing his virginity.  He would never be able to talk about this with them.  But he was dying to.   

It was easy to sense where the omega was in the room and he chalked it up to the strong scent of heat that still warmed the blood in his veins with every inhale.  He could hear the water running in the shower but even without that indicator he could sense just how close he was.  

The air conditioner fan was blasting on high and he took the duvet with him to the bathroom like a cape to take a piss.  The cold tile felt like a sheet of ice against his bare feet and made his toes curl with each step.  He could hear the water running and kept his back turned to it while he relieved himself, his own privacy shielded by his blanket cape.  Not that he had anything to hide at this point but it still felt appropriate to have at least some modesty.

He yelped when he stepped back into a puddle of freezing water and jumped to stand on the towel one of them had carelessly left on the floor earlier in the day, his blanket cape now soaked along the edges.  

Louis was standing under the spray of the shower hunched over, doors not even slid closed which had caused the flooding of the floor around it.  He was fisting his dick with angry pulls, whimpering while his body shivered.  

“What are you doing?” Harry reacted, reaching to turn off the spray of the freezing cold water and grabbing one of the dry towels to wrap him in.  

“Was too hot,” he slurred, teeth chattering and eyes unfocused.

“Christ,” Harry breathed out while he tried to towel him off and was surprised to find that despite his shivers, his skin was still feverish to the touch.  “Are you alright?” 

“Hurts,” he whimpered and squeezed himself again after letting the weight of his body fall into Harry.  He was ashamed to admit that he was getting hard himself again, Louis’ scent strong and overpowering now that the water wasn’t masking the edge of his desperate pheromones.  

“What hurts?”

Harry used the towel to dry what he could, ruffling it over his dripping hair while helping him out of the tub.  

“Hurts,” Louis let out a sob, leaning forward to rest his forearm on the counter next to the sink, his other hand still jerked himself in fast motions.  His legs were spread and Harry licked his lips when Louis arched his back, pushing his ass back towards him.  Harry’s dick was fully at attention again at the sight, begging to dive into the slick that was gathered around his hole that was presented so openly to him. 

“Alpha, please,” Louis begged, sobbing into his arm.  

The base of his own dick still ached but had started to throb for a relief that his instincts told him would only come from plunging himself back into that slick.  It was a preoccupation that he would equate to having to use the bathroom, he couldn’t focus on anything else until it was done.  Now that he was more aware and alert than he had been before, less taken off guard anyway, he was able to recognize how the want, how the  _ need _ , enveloped him like the buzz of getting stoned.  One minute he was clear headed and then starting with a tingling in the back of his mind and a rush of blood to his dick, he slowly succumbed to the drive to take, claim, knot until his vision fully tunneled to only those things.

He was a teenage boy with an overactive sex drive and Louis was offering but more importantly he was an alpha and his omega needed him, was begging for him.  His omega.  The concept didn’t seem foreign and was an unconscious slip of a label in his mind that made it painful to deny Louis what would ease his suffering.  He was his to take care of.

His eyes flitted up to himself in the mirror to see his pupils blown and his cheeks flushed.  He looked wrecked, not himself and they hadn’t even started yet.  Grazing his fingers lightly over the small of Louis’ back, he groaned when he saw fingers reach around to prod at his own clenching hole and the visual had him slapping the hand away to replace them with his own lengthy fingers.  It was mesmerizing to watch them disappear into his body, the slide smooth and easy and nothing like the normal lube he had used on himself in the past.  

Louis whined and the wolf in his brain responded with a soothing noise and an obeying action.  It wasn’t a command but a desperation that had him moving, removing his fingers and pressing the head of his swollen cock against him.  He was heavy and huge in his own hand again, as big as he had been before but still noticeably different than his normal erections.  It had to be the omega effect.  He kept his eyes glued to their connection and pushed in, sucking in the new release of pheromones like a drug through his nostrils.  

It didn’t take long before he felt that pressure in the place where his knot had swelled.  It wasn’t quite familiar yet but was enough to chase the feeling without fear this time.  He tasted the sharp tang of blood in his mouth as slammed his hips harder and bit down at his lip, thigh muscles burning with exertion until the final thrust that locked him tightly into place.  

He panted and rested his forehead between Louis’ shoulder blades, only then vaguely aware of the omega coming, hot drips landing on his ice cold toes.  It felt good, it felt dirty, but he wasn’t sure he’d ever mention that to anyone out loud.  But it did bring him back enough to realize they were locked together in a position that wasn’t exactly ideal.  Louis was growing limp against the counter, unable or unwilling to fully support himself in his state and Harry’s muscles were screaming at him for holding such a stance.  

Harry wrapped his arms around Louis’ middle and glanced around for a solution.  The bathroom floor was far too cold and uncomfortable for them to settle there but the beds in the main room seemed so far away.  He held off for as long as he could, hoping tie would be one of the shorter ones the article referenced but eventually, he had to move.

“Lou, can you walk with me?” he muttered against the omega’s ear and hoped he was with it enough to understand.   He didn’t receive a response.  

With one arm around Louis’ waist, he slid his other up and spread his palm against his chest.  He experimentally held him close and tried to stand upright and found that it didn’t seem too difficult.  Slowly,  one small shuffle at a time, he tried to move them out of the bathroom.  Slick and come leaked between them with each movement and left their thighs sticking together uncomfortably but there wasn’t much he could do about it while they were stuck together.  

They had successfully made it around the corner and had nearly made it to the closest bed when his toes painfully hit an obstacle he couldn’t see.  His hand instinctively reached out for something to steady himself which caused Louis’ body weight to crumple forward.  

“Fuck!” he cried out in pain when he was unable to keep their balance with the shift and Louis began to fall forward.  It was only an afterthought in the brief millisecond that they were tied together before the painful tug yanked Harry onto the floor with him, landing on top of him in a move that was nowhere near graceful.  

“What the fuck!” Louis exclaimed loudly, the fall apparently knocking him out of his omega haze as his voice sounded clear and sharp.  “Get the fuck off me!” 

“I can’t!” Harry yelled back just as Louis shoved him back so violently that it felt like his dick might be ripped from his body.  Instead he landed back on the floor on his bum, a mess of fluids following him after his knot was forced free. 

He wasn’t quite sure what to do while he watched Louis rub at his eyes that were clenched tightly with pain, rolling back onto the carpet with an agonizing noise.  

“I think you rug burned my dick,” Louis eventually was able to speak, staring up at the ceiling, his face void of any emotions while his fingers inspected his crotch.  

“Sorry… I was trying to get us to bed but tripped over your stuff,” Harry leaned his head back against the wall, rubbing the sore section of his dick while his knot deflated.  It was a bit like getting kicked in the balls but not quite as sharp.  He couldn’t imagine what it had felt like for Louis. 

“‘S fine,” Louis mumbled, waving a hand in a limp gesture, “Feel like I just woke up from some weird dream, like someone just dumped a bucket of water on me to wake me up.” 

“You, um… You do remember what happened…?” he asked hesitantly.  He awkwardly searched around for something to cover himself with, pulling a tshirt over his crotch while Louis laid out just as unashamed of his body as ever.  

“Yea, I mean, kinda.  I do but it seems a little unreal.  Never had a heat before.”  

“Are you okay?  I didn’t, I mean, you were begging and I, did I… Fuck I took advantage of you didn’t I,” he covered his face with his hands, the full scale of what had happened coming down on him before he even had a chance to shower Louis’ slick off his skin.  

“No!  No.  I mean, I wanted it, I wanted you to.  Glad it was you,” Louis pulled at his hair while Harry peeked out from between his fingers.  He didn’t look like he regretted what had happened nor did he seem angry with Harry.  

“Are you okay?  Is it over?”  He fidgeted with the hem of the tshirt over his lap, glancing up at Louis tentatively.  

“I don’t know really.  Maybe.  The jolt kind of brought me back but I still feel kind of hot.  Kind of sore too though.  Don’t really know when to know it’s over.” 

Harry nodded and scratched at his skin that was starting to feel tight and itchy with their drying fluids. 

“Want to take a shower?  I think we have to check out of the room soon.  I don’t even know what time it is.” 

Louis nodded and slowly pushed himself up to sit, only wincing slightly with how sore he must be.  Harry helps him up and to the shower, innocently washing them both clean and tucking them both into the clean bed.  They had time for a nap before they would have the leave the room and he knew that both of them would need it.  

 

\--

 

The piercing ring of the telephone is the next conscious moment either of them have, both jumping at the interruption.  Harry answered with a sleep coated voice to find out that they had missed their checkout time and housekeeping was waiting to enter their room.  He mumbled an apology and hangs up the receiver, groaning in protest as he flopped back against the bed.  Louis was immediately crawling on top of him, an aura of body heat following him.  

“Louis, no, we have to leave,” Harry tried to gently slide out from under him which took more than a little effort.  Louis’ fingers clung to him anywhere he could until they both wound up on the floor.  “We have to check out of the hotel.”  

Harry shimmied out of his grip and started scrambling to shove his things into his bags, hopping on one foot while he tried to pull on some sweatpants at the same time.  Louis whined in protest, draping himself over the bed and thrusting his hips against it.  

“We can’t right now,” he tried to breathe through his mouth as much as he could but it did little to mask the scent Louis was sending towards him, his dick half hard in his pants.  “I’m seriously Louis, put some clothes on.” 

He wasn’t prepared when Louis started to sob into the mattress, the distress too difficult to ignore.  Harry, an alpha, was rejecting him in his time of need.  It must have felt so devastating.  He sighed and turned to look at the omega.

“I’ll get you off, yeah?  Then we can go to my sister’s.  She doesn’t live too far away and she’ll be at work by now.”  

Harry sat on the bed beside him, helping him turn to lay down before getting a hand on his leaking cock.  He bit hard on his lip to ignore his own and it didn’t take long before Louis was coming over his hand and his own stomach, crying out with a noise that could have been more pain and frustration than pleasure.  Using a corner of the sheet, he wiped his hand and Louis’ stomach clean.  

“Come on, we need to get going.  I promise I’ll take care of you soon, promise.”  He tried to say it with confidence but there was a tremor in his own voice from the amount of self control it took not to take him once again right there.  Disappearing into the bathroom, he dumped all of their toiletries into one of their bags and grabbed one of the hotel’s hand towels.  

“Use this so you don’t soak through your pants,” Harry handed him the towel before rummaging around for some loose clothing for Louis to wear.  He ended up with a pair of his own shorts and a tshirt that looked baggy on Louis’ small frame but the length would help to cover the erection that still wouldn’t go down.  

It was like trying to dress a toddler, tears and whines spilling from him while trying to get him to stay in the clothes that were necessary to step out into public.  

“Louis, keep your clothes on!” he finally told him firmly and was startled by how authoritative his voice suddenly sounded.  Louis immediately stilled and released the fabric scrunched in his fists, looking up with wide eyes.  “We need to go.” 

Harry loaded their bags onto his shoulder, posture leaning to the side with the weight of all their luggage.  It wasn’t easy but eventually he was able to herd Louis out of the hotel room and down the hallway.  

He had never been more thankful for the obliviousness of humans and their dull noses more than he was when they made their way across the lobby.  They weren’t able to smell the alluring and desperate scent rolling from Louis nor were they able to register the high pitched whines he had been making since Harry had told him no.  There were still tears rolling down his cheeks and his breath was hitched but they were also leaving after having been eliminated from a competition so their looks of pity were a welcome over what was actually happening.  

There were always taxis waiting outside of such a busy hotel and Harry shoved Louis into one without much grace.  He rattled off an address and wrestled their bags into the car before they were on their way through the thick traffic.

“He okay?” the taxi driver asked nervously when Louis’ sobs became stronger, begging Harry while trying to climb into his lap at the same time.  He did the best to shoot a ‘mind your own business’ look but knew it wasn’t very menacing.  

He reached his hand into the pocket of Louis’ duffel and pushed a wad of cash at the driver once they rolled up to his sister’s building.  It must have been more than enough because the driver turned to stop gawking at their bizarre behaviour and let them leave without another word.  

Thankful that Gemma had trusted him with a copy of her key, they fumbled their way into the building and up the stairs to her second floor flat.  The entire way Louis was again trying to remove his clothing and once they were close enough to the door, Harry just gave up trying to stop him.  He kicked the discarded tshirt into the flat after Louis had dropped it to the floor and pushed him in after, struggling to pull the bags through the door.

The latch had barely clicked shut before Louis was on him, blindly pushing him back towards any furniture he could find.  Their luggage dropped loudly onto the wooden flooring and he hoped nothing had been damaged but really, he couldn’t find it in him to care The back of his legs hit the couch and he fell down onto the cushions with a bounce, hands holding onto Louis’ hips so they didn’t both go toppling to the floor again.  Somehow Louis had gotten himself completely naked without a struggle and his cock rubbed against Harry’s stomach while he moved to straddle him.  He was leaking and dampening the shirt covering Harry’s abdomen but he couldn’t find it in him to mind when Louis’ wandering hands were pulling him out of his sweatpants just enough to sink down onto his hard length.  It punched the breath out of his lungs at the sudden constriction and he tightened his fingers around the fleshy part of his hips to keep him steady.  It was desperate and dirty and fast and he wanted it all as quickly as it could come.

“Finally,” Louis mumbled while he rocked his hips down, wet suction loud over their laboured breathing.  

It was grounding to finally sink deep into Louis’ slick, the weight of his body in his lap canceling out everything else around him, even if someone had been witnessing their whole exchange though he really hoped no one had.  He hadn’t checked to make sure they were alone.  Having held back so long, it didn’t take much for his knot to begin to swell, stilling Louis’ movements until they were once again locked tightly together.  

Louis fell forward to rest his cheek against his shoulder, puffs of humid breath hitting his neck.  Harry shifted them around until he was laying on his back across the couch, Louis cradled against his chest.  He tented his knees to make it more comfortable and rode out the extended orgasm that he might not be able to live without now that he had had them.  

“I didn’t know it was going to be like this,” Louis mumbled after a while, “I’ve never seen a heat in human form before.  Seems a little messy.” 

Harry let out a puff of a laugh and languidly ran his hands up and down Louis’ back.  

“I’ve never seen a heat before in general.  Didn’t know much about knotting or anything.” 

“Have you really never done this before?” Louis asked, his fingertips tracing shapes against his chest. 

He shook his head and let his hands still on his back.  “I’ve had sex with a few girls before, even one guy but it was never like this with humans.  I don’t know any other wolves who have ever knotted… It only happens with an omega and you’re the only omega I’ve ever met.” 

“Are you upset we bonded then?” Louis lifted his head and looked down at Harry with hesitation laced with a bit of alarm. 

“We bonded?” He really needed to stop sounding like an idiot when it came to things he really should know more about.  “We haven’t even kissed yet!” 

He should have expected it when Louis leaned down and pressed their lips together.  It wasn’t the best first kiss, clumsy and awkward and a little too much force but he could work with it.  

“There.  Now we have.  And you didn’t leave a bonding mark but you might as well have.  Can’t you feel it?”

Harry wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be feeling but he thought back to the hotel room and being able to sense where Louis was in the room. Maybe it was only things like that and not the catastrophic life altering things he would have imagined that indicated a bond.  He shrugged a little and then nodded.  He needed more time to feel it out.  

“I bet you’d be able to hear me.”  And what?  Of course Harry could hear him.  He was speaking inches away from his face.  His confusion must show and he continued.  “As wolves I mean.  I think we’d be able to hear each other.”  

“But we’re not part of the same pack?  I couldn’t even hear everyone at camp and we spent every summer together.” 

“But we bonded.  If we bonded, I guess.  We’d be able to hear each other.” 

Louis shifted on top of him and he couldn’t help but squeeze his eyes shut at the pull on his knot.  

“Feels good, doesn’t it?” Louis sighed contently and purposefully continued to rock against their tie. “Never had it before but I love it.  Glad it was you.”  He continued to rotate his hips and before long sat straight up and continued the figure eight motions while he stroked himself in his own world.  Harry couldn’t do much more than watch but didn’t mind the show.  It felt like his knot had swelled again where it had started to deflate and their fluids leaking out felt better than it should. 

There was something different about it this time, though.  It was less frantic and desperate.  Instead Louis seemed in control of what he was doing and seemed to be experimenting with his motions, stopping one to start another if it didn’t feel quite as good.  It made Harry’s hips thrust up against him even if there wasn’t much space to move. 

“Want you to be my alpha,” Louis murmured, tilting his head back and groaning while he jerked himself harder. That word.  It was such a small word but it was so powerful.  It made something in Harry’s chest swell.  It made him want to claim and brought up other emotions he didn’t quite have descriptions for.  He wanted to be Louis alpha regardless of what that would even mean.  

“My omega,” he tested out loud in the same timbre that had felt so powerful before, the one he didn’t know he possessed.  He stared in awe when it made Louis come immediately, painting long stripes over his chest, some even hitting his chin.  

Louis collapsed forward again and nuzzled his nose into Harry’s neck, scenting him without abandon.  

“You don’t feel so warm anymore,” Harry observed, pressing his palms against Louis skin where it didn’t feel quite so searing.  He was surprised at how fast his knot was seeming to go down after Louis had come the second time, feeling like it could slip out of Louis’ slick any moment.  

“Mhm, think it’s over.  Can we run?  I want to run, I have all this pent up energy,” he mumbled into the juncture of Harry’s neck.  

“You mean shift?  There really isn’t a place to run in the city.” 

“Come on Harry, don’t you want to feel the wind?”  Louis sat up and looked down at him with longing and excitement in his eyes, smile stuck on his face as if he were describing a utopia from his dreams.  

“Okay Louis.  We can run.” 

He would be lying if he said he wasn’t excited to shift as they cleaned each other up and dressed in enough clothes to seem normal.  It had been a long time since he had let his wolf go and there was always a buzz of excitement when he wasn’t going to run alone.  He loved the camaraderie of running with his friends from camp, snapping at each other and playing when they allowed themselves to be free.  

He hoped Gemma wouldn’t mind that they had moved into a small section of the living room but found that he couldn’t force himself to dwell on it.  The pair were familiar with each other now, the ice obviously broken between them as soon as Harry had walked in on Lous’ heat, and it left them flirting and giggling the entire tube ride to the outskirts of the city.  It wasn’t as long as he imagined it would be but he also wasn’t quite sure where they would end up either.  His only goal had been to get them outside the heart of the city so they would have a better chance of slipping away unnoticed.  

They found station to get off at and made their way to the street.  It wasn’t as deserted as Harry had hoped but it wouldn’t be far until it was.  

He motioned for Louis to follow and they found themselves behind a building that cast a shadow of privacy.  

“Let’s just go,” Harry shrugged and began to pull of his clothes.  He folded them neatly and hid them behind a bush before shifting into his brown wolf and waiting patiently until Louis followed.  

“Think anyone saw?” Harry snapped his head up at the sound of Louis in his head and he could practically see the wolf smirking back at him after his theory was proven right.  He shook his head rustled out his fur, rubbing his head past Louis’ affectionately.  

“No one saw.  Now don’t let them,” he teased before taking off at a sprint, feeling Louis catch on quickly behind him.  

They ran until they reached the open space of the country, wind in their faces and freedom stretching out in front of them.  

Harry had expected to go to London and stay until he had come out on top.  Instead he felt that maybe he had found that glory in a different way.  It was something he hadn’t been looking for, something he didn’t even know existed.  He wasn’t sure what any of it might mean for his future or how they would navigate that together,  but if Louis wanted to give him a slice of the wild, just maybe Harry could be his slice of the city.   

**Author's Note:**

> [If you enjoyed, here's the tumblr post :) Come say hi!](http://jaerie.tumblr.com/post/165045081745/title-out-of-the-wild-author-jaerie-rating)


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